Duke Energy meteorologists watch Hurricane Matthew closely

Duke Energy meteorologists continue to monitor the movement of Hurricane Matthew and are developing up-to-the minute forecasts to help the company plan and prepare for potential impacts.

"The latest models show a shift to the west, which puts the storm on a direct path with the North Carolina coast late Friday into early Saturday," said Nick Keener, Duke Energy's lead meteorologist. "It's still too early to determine the exact path of the storm, but based on today's information, we are asking our power restoration employees to prepare to travel later this week."

Duke Energy has a detailed storm response plan. As part of the preparation for Hurricane Matthew, the utility is checking equipment, supplies and inventories to ensure it has have adequate materials to make repairs and restore power outages.

"Staffing plans are underway," said Bobby Simpson, Duke Energy's storm director for the Carolinas. "Crews across the Carolinas, Midwest and Florida are preparing and are ready to move to wherever the storm may affect our customers."